RECORDING OF THE MONTH     CHOPIN Waltzes and Impromptus Vladimir Feltsman £11 post free World-wide VIVALDI The four seasons London Mozart Players/Juritz £12 post free World-wide BEETHOVEN Symphonies 4 and 5 LSO/Yondani Butt £12 post free World-wide

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Adolf and Fritz Busch conduct Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Adagio and Fugue in C minor K546 Serenade in D K239 Serenata Notturna Piano Concerto No. 14 K449 * Rudolf Serkin (piano) * Busch Chamber Players/Adolf Busch recorded 1937-38 Symphony No. 36 in C K425 Linz BBC Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Busch recorded 1934 Eine Kleine Nachtmusik K525 Danish Radio Orchestra/Fritz Busch recorded 1937 BIDDULPH BID 83066 [80.57]

AVAILABILITY www.biddulphrecordings.com This disc performs a useful service in collating the Busch brothers’ Mozart recordings made between 1934 and 1938. This was a time of voluntary exile from Hitler’s Germany and saw the foundation of Adolf’s conductorless chamber orchestra, in 1935, which he led from the first desk. Fritz found a base in Copenhagen where he lived for six years while conducting the Danish Symphony Radio Orchestra, a job entrusted to him and Nikolai Malko jointly as they were charged with the responsibility of expanding the repertoire of Launy Grøndahl’s band. The Eine Kleine Nachtmusik here is a souvenir of his pre-War work with the ensemble and is a slightly later recording than its companion, the 1934 BBC Linz Symphony, a work he re-recorded after the War with his Danish forces with more conspicuous success. The Adagio and Fugue receives from the Busch Chamber Players a reading of magisterial breadth, complete with strong and vibrant string playing and discreet portamenti. The Serenade, recorded almost exactly a year later, is notable for Adolf’s elegant and lyrical solos and the bluff and buoyant Rondeau; allegretto conclusion. The transfers here are very clean and clear allowing detail properly to register. The E flat Piano concerto brings to the fore Adolf’s son-in-law, Rudolf Serkin. There are plenty of attractive features here and I have to say that I prefer Biddulph’s transfer to the rather noisier and less clear one on EMI. There is still a slightly shallow and plumy piano sonority but this can’t really be helped and if there are some exposed orchestral string incidents and examples of less than Olympian orchestral unanimity these are relatively minor matters. The 1934 Linz with Fritz conducting is somewhat disappointing. String discipline is noticeably lacking in places and there are rather too many unwieldy and inorganic-sounding portamenti. Comparison with the almost contemporaneous Beecham shows that whilst Busch is more fleet and driving Beecham is the more precise and the more captivating. This is a valuable release, somewhat variable interpretatively in places but nevertheless a more than honourable salute to two distinguished musicians. Fortunately sound quality is excellent and unobtrusive. Jonathan Woolf     Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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